“Yeah. But it‟s not the same one we went to. It‟s the one where Brian likes to go. And Ronnie doesn‟t always come with us. She locks herself in her
room and refuses to come out, but as soon as we leave, she goes over to Starbucks to hang out with her friends. It makes Mom furious.” Sparks,
2009:27
Jonah tells Steve that Ronnie does not always come to the church with him, Kim and Brian especially if Brian comes to go to church together. She locks
herself in her room. She waits until her mother, Jonah and Brian go to the church. After that, Ronnie hangs out with her friends. It makes Kim furious. Ronnie and
Kim fight every day.
2. The Characteristics of Steve
Steve Miller is a father of two children, Ronnie and Jonah. He is forty eight years old. He had a wife. Her name is Kim. Three years ago, he divorced with
Kim. Steve‟s personalities were very different from Kim‟s personalities. “Unlike Kim, who‟d been outgoing and gregarious, he‟d always been more reticent and
blended into crowds” Sparks, 2009:17. Although Steve does not really like the crowds, but he is a good musician. Steve is also a good composer. He teach piano
in the prestigious music schools, Juill iard. There are four Steve‟s characteristics
that will be explained in this part.
a. Religious
Three years after he divorces with Kim, Steve focuses his life to experience the presence of God. When Ronnie at her father‟s house, she finds her father‟s
bible. “Beside her, on the bed stand, was her father‟s Bible” Sparks, 2009:380.
From that event, Ronnie knows that her father is a religious person. Actually Steve is a religious person. He always keeps his Bible in his bed. “That‟s because
you were young. I ke pt this Bible by my bed, and I‟d read through parts of it once
or twice a week. Ask your mom. She‟ll tell you” Sparks, 2009:412. He often
reads Bible. After his divorce, Steve gives his attention to God. He seeks the presence of God. He often shares his experience with Pastor Harry. Pastor Harry
is a person who rent a house to Steve. Pastor Harry is a preacher in the church, near Steve‟s house. Someday Ronnie asks her father to share anything about
Bible. Steve shares one of his favorite verses in the Bible. “It‟s Galatians 5: 22,” he said, pressing the Bible flat in his lap. He cleared
his throat before he started. “But when The Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will reduce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self- control” Sparks, 2009:412.
Steve has many favorites‟ verses in the Bible. He also enjoys the Psalms.
Ronnie realizes that The Holy Spirit really controls her father‟s life. “Her dad, she saw now, had never been acting alone. The Holy Spirit had been controlling his
life all along” Sparks, 2009:413. After Steve shares about Bible, Ronnie begins to pray regularly. She also wants to experience the presence of God like his father.
When Ronnie and Jonah arrive in Steve‟s house, Steve asks to Jonah about the condition of his family.
Steve smiled. “Are you still going to church?”he asked. “Yeah. But it‟s not the same one we went to. It‟s the one where Brian likes
to go. And Ronnie doesn‟t always come with us. She locks herself in her room and refuses to some out, but as soon as we leave, she goes over to
Starbucks to hang out with her frien ds...” Sparks, 2009:27.
In the novel, Ronnie is described as a religious person like her father. Her family always go to church together. And after the parental divorce, Ronnie does
not always go to church with her mother, Jonah and her mother‟s new boyfriend. She locks herself and goes out with her friends.
b. Wise
During the holiday, Ronnie has new friends. One of them is Blaze. Blaze has a boyfriend. His name is Marcus. Marcus does not like Blaze. After Marcus
met Ronnie, he likes her. Blaze is jealous of that condition. She trapped Ronnie, she put something in Ronnie‟s tote bag. Because of that, Ronnie is arrested by the
police Sparks, 2009:111. At that time, Ronnie calls her father. She wants Steve to pick her up in the police station.
“Are you mad at me?” she asked. It was the first time since she‟d been here that she‟d spoken to him without a
hint of anger or frustration. “No,” he said. “Not at all.” Sparks, 2009:119
After Steve picks Ronnie up from the police station, he goes back to home.
Ronnie tells her father that she does not steal in that shop. She has been trapped by Blaze. From that conversation between Ronnie and Steve, Steve says he does
not mad at Ronnie. He believes Ronnie does not do it Sparks, 2009:118. He also does not discuss about it with Ronnie anymore.
Someday, Will tells the truth about fire in the church to Ronnie. The person who started the fire was Scott. Will had known it but he did not tell anything
about it to someone else. “But he‟s my friend...” Sparks, 2009:390. Will does not tell the truth to someone else because Scott is his friend. He protects Scott.
“Pastor Harris almost died in that fire He spent weeks in the hospital. Do you know how painful burns are? Why don‟t you ask Blaze how it feels?
And the church... you know he can‟t even rebuild it...and now my dad‟s
never going to see the window wh ere it belongs” Sparks, 2009:390.
Because of that fire, Pastor Harris almost died. Ronnie is very disappointed with Will.
“Just go Leave”Sparks, 2009:391. Ronnie is angry with Will, she tells Will to go and leaves her. After Ronnie knew the truth from Will, she tells
her father. She also tells her father that she breaks her relationship with Will. “I‟m not saying I‟m right. I‟ll be the first to admit I‟m wrong about a lot of
things. But if everything is just as you described it, then I want you to know this: Pastor Harris doesn‟t want to know the truth. Because if he does, he‟ll
have to do something about it. And trust me, he would never want to hurt Scott o
r his family, especially if it was an accident. He‟s just not that kind of man. And one more thing. And of everything I‟ve said, this is the most
important.” “What‟s that?”
“You need to learn how to forgive.” She crossed her arms. “I‟ve already forgiven Will. I‟ve left him messages...”
Even before she finished, her dad was shaking his head. “I‟m not talking about Will. You need to learn
yourself first.”Sparks, 2009:422-423. From the quotation above, the author of the novel describes Steve‟s
characteristics through reactions Murphy, 1972: 168. Steve‟s reactions towards
Ronnie‟s story explain that he is a wise man. He does not mad with Will because of his action, he gives an advice to Ronnie.
“When you told me that you were in love with Will, did you mean it?” She remembered Megan asking her the same question. “Yes.”
“Then I think you might have been too hard on him.” Sparks, 2009:422. He says that Ronnie needs to learn how to forgive because Steve knows that
Ronnie loves Will very much. It will be hard for Ronnie to break her relationship with Will because of this problem. He does not tell Ronnie to tell the truth to
Pastor Harris. As a father, Steve really cares to her daughter‟s feeling. He knows that
Ronnie loves Will and because of this case they break their relationship. Steve tries to understand Ronnie‟s feeling and he wants Ronnie learn how to forgive
someone. When Ronnie is arrested by the police, he also does not angry with her. He also does not discuss about it with Ronnie. He believes her. Different with
Kim, Kim will be angry if she knows that Ronnie is arrested by the police in North Carolina. Ronnie needs someone who can understand and listen to her.
c. Kind
Three persons in that novel say that Steve is a kind man. When Steve stays in the hospital, Ronnie always accompanies him. Ronnie regrets because she has
wasted three years to hate her father. At that time, Steve‟s time is limited. He only has less than a year to live. Ronnie realizes that she loves her father very much.
She does not wa nt to lose him. “He was a good man, a good father, and he
deserved more than that” Sparks, 2009:374. He is a good father for Ronnie. He always loves Ronnie even though she hated him. And now, Ronnie wants to take
care of her father. Ronnie regrets about her action towards her father. She realizes that she really loves her father. She can not hate him because of the parental
divorce. Will admires
Steve. “Only Steve, a man he‟d grown to admire, a man he‟d learned from, and the kind of man he himself hoped to be a
s he grew older” Sparks, 2009:383. Will learns to be a good man from Steve. He gets many
lessons of life from Steve. Pastor Harris is the last person that says Steve is a kind person. “I can‟t
imagine how hard this is for you. Your dad is a speci al man” Sparks, 2009:376.
Ronnie takes care of her father in the hospital, she meets Pastor Harris. They talks about Steve‟s illness seriously. Pastor Harris tells that Steve is a special man.
